


Loving you.

by Snake-house (CallmeKitten)



Series: Hetalia Reader-Inserts [4]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, Crossdressing, Crossdressing reader, Forced Crossdressing, He/Him pronouns used for reader, M/M, Prince France, Prince Reader, her/she pronouns used for reader, male reader - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:40:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22474258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallmeKitten/pseuds/Snake-house
Summary: The lying was the worst part. But you couldn’t go against your father, that would be the end of you forever.And your fiancé ended up being so sweet and kind. You hated the lying.
Relationships: France (Hetalia)/Reader
Series: Hetalia Reader-Inserts [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1613152
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	Loving you.

**Author's Note:**

> warnings: none  
> he/him and her/she pronouns used for reader [will make sense in story, but reader is male 100%]  
> also i only put [name] since my name is gender neutral and not [male name] or [female name]  
> *royalty au

“Remember to stand tall, chin up, shoulders back.”

“I know.”

“Also, remember to be polite! Manners!

"Yes, I know mother.”

“And of course, please smile.” Your mother turned to you as you both stopped in front of the door that led to the throne room.

A smile tugged at your lips as your mother rambled on about other lady-like things that you should remember to do and what not, it really warmed your heart about how much she really cared about you. 

“Now [Name],” You turned from the door to look at the older woman, “I know... I know that you truly don't want this, I don't want this for you, but you know how your father is. He will do anything to better our kingdom, no matter the cost. And no matter the outcome, I will support you, even if it all collapses beneath us."

“What father gets what father wants, I know mother, it's alright.” You gave her a smile, letting her know that you were all right with the situation, “I want to please father, and if this is what he wishes, so be it." 

The queen smiled at you, wrapping her arms around you in a hug, which you returned, "But,” She started as she let go of you and held you at arms-length, “I still want you to find love.”

You smile faltered at her words, but you nodded, to appease her, and let the door be opened for the two of you by one of the guards. 

Now, what exactly is the situation here? It was quite simple actually. An arranged marriage that was founded upon lies. 

You were a princess, well, not really, but and there was duties that came with the position. Often you would ask yourself why you of all people had to be cursed with royal blood, you would have much rather been a gardener than be the crown prince. 

Anyways, the duties of the crown prince were simple; be the spitting image of gracefulness itself, intellectual, but of course know when to hold your tongue, be kind to the people and to cherish the kingdom. Your kingdom was small in size, but vast in culture and liveliness. 

But there was something else that is important about your kingdom, the neighboring one. The neighboring kingdom was quite larger than your own, and had a culture of their own uniqueness, and likely as lively as the one your resided in. 

The catch was the two kingdoms went to war a long, long time ago. The war lasted for six months and contained a great amount of death and sacrifice. In the end the kingdoms signed a peace treaty that led the two kingdoms into a hundred years of peace and prosperity. After that hundred years, it brings you to today. 

Your father found out a month and a half ago that your peaceful neighborly king had a son around your age, and when this news was known, your marriage to the prince was set. The two kings, your father of course being one of them, thought what a better way to prolong the peace between the nations then by coming together by a beautiful marriage.

But here come the lies. 

Because of your stature, being a rather frail and dainty prince, never being one to master the art of the sword or hand-to-hand combat, your father liked to ignore you. You were not a real prince as he liked to rant to you about, you'd be better as a princess with your love of more docile past times, such as the piano and art. With your mother always supporting you, you ignored his harsh words and happily continued on with what you loved to do.

Due to the fact you were often ignored by your father, the neighboring kingdom's king didn't know your father had a child, a son to be exact, and he used it to his advantage. When the two met to discuss what they would do to keep the peace between your kingdoms, your father let it slide that he had a daughter, not a son. 

Your father thought it was a brilliant plan. Let the fool of a king think you were a girl until after the marriage was complete, since divorce was taboo, and just let it be known you were barren as the reason why you can't produce any heirs. Your father was a stupid man. 

The queen walked in before you, to have you follow her. Her head was held high, shoulders back and spine straight. She was indeed the perfect queen and a much better ruler than your father. You matched her posture to the very last muscle, but it was obvious that yours was still more naive and passive, not at defiant as your mother’s. Even after months of practicing, you still found it slightly uncomfortable to walk in or rather just wear a corset. 

Your father sat in his throne next to the king that was soon going to be your father-in-law. The two were just chatting away. Your mother took her seat next to her husband, catching their attention and alerting your arrival. The two men stood up as you approached the thrones, both with gleaming smiles. 

You curtsied to them all, “Good day father.” you said as you rose from your curtsy. Your father hired a linguist to help you train your vocal cords to talk at a higher pitch. 

He beamed at you, “And a good day to you, my dear, did you have any issues waking this morning?”

“Of course not.” You replied with a small smile. 

The king matched your smile, “You remember King Louis?” He asked as if there wasn’t a doubt that you forgot him. 

“Yes I do,” You smiled at him, he returning the gesture. How could you forget the man, he visits at least once a month, even more at times. You always had to hide away in your room or in the gardens when he came over. 

“That’s wonderful! Since it is drawing near to your wedding," Three weeks to be exact, you thought, "We thought it was a good idea for you and Francis to get to know each other a little more. How does that sound.”

You didn't let it show on your face how your stomach dropped at the idea, “That sounds like a wonderful idea.” But you had no choice in the matter. 

“Excellent.” Just then, King Louis waved over a man from the window that you didn’t even notice before, to come over to where you all were. 

You watched the man as he approached, analyzing him. So this is the man I am to marry, You thought, not that you resented him or anything. 

He had golden hair, shoulder length, but nothing too extravagant or special. He was taller than you of course, most people were since you were cursed not only with royal blood, but the simple height of 5 foot 4 inches. But women were expected to be small and dainty in this age. He wore royal clothing, nothing too formal, it was more relaxed, much like the [color] dress you were wearing. Now what caught you the most was his sparkling blue eyes. They were beautiful, you didn’t think a man could be this beautiful, it really caught you off guard. 

“[Name], Zhis iz my son Francis, your fiance.” As soon as the words left King Louis’s mouth, you felt your heart sink a little bit more. 

Despite this, you put a smile on and curtsied before him, bowing your head slightly, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” You spoke softly, not wanting to come off too strong. 

As you stood up to your full height, Francis swiftly caught your hand, bowing slightly to you to kiss the back of your hand, “Excuse me princess, but zhe pleasure iz all mine.” His voice was like silk and almost intoxicating to listen too. 

You gave him a smile before turning to look at your father, “You both are free to go, just stay within the castle’s gates.”

With a nod to your father’s words, “Yes father,” you curtsied to the two kings, even though your hand was still held by Francis. 

He smiled broadly at you before he tucked your arm around his, escorting you to the doors. 

To say the least, he was not at all what you expected, but of course you didn’t really know him yet. He was certainly charming, but there was something else there that you couldn’t quite pinpoint. 

There was small talk here and there as the two of you decided to make your way out to the garden to talk, it was a pleasant atmosphere out there. It was the place where you went when you needed to just escape the heavy lies that made up your life now. 

“So tell me princess-" 

You stopped him there, “[Name] is fine, we don’t need to use formalities if we are to be wed in three weeks.”

A low chuckle escaped his broad chest, “Of course, [Name], I zhink zhat iz zhe best, I would love for you to call me Francis as well,” You returned his smile, “Anyvays, I was actually wondering ‘ow you felt about zhe marriage. You are two years younger zhan me, so I wasn’t sure 'ow you would take zhe news.”

“Age is a number, maturity comes from experience,” You stated confidently, looking at the flowers that surrounded the two of you, “I am completely fine with the marriage if you ask me, even if there could be complications. Finding love is far to difficult in the world, so being arranged to marry someone doesn’t bother me. If it appeases my father and my kingdom, I don’t have a worry in the world about it.” When you finished talking, Francis stopped walking immediately. 

You looked over at him to see if something wrong, but your eyes just met a very serious look. 

“Do not say zhat [Name], love is very important.” The tone in his was dangerously serious, it almost frightened you. 

“I don’t think it is very important because just like every other emotion, love will come and love will go. Why try to find something that is never going to stay and never going to fulfill you?” You questioned him with your own seriousness. 

Francis’s lips were pressed into a firm line. The look on his face resembled the look people get when they were in deep thought, but he looked like he wasn’t sure what to do nor say. 

But finally, “Let me show you what love iz.” left his lips. 

The blonde started to walk again, swiftly taking you with him, and led you to the front of your castle. His words made you apprehensive and on guard. There were too many lies you had to maintain, and it scared you if he would find a way to break the walls you had up. 

There was a large water fountain there, and one the edge of the fountain, Francis sat down, again, taking your with him. 

“Just like water,” Francis said, taking your hand and dipping it in the water, “Love keeps flowing and never stops. Water cannot be contained either. Water can take zhe shape of a glass, a bowl, even a plate, it has no form. The form of love iz simply 'ere.” He brought the hand that wasn’t holding yours in the water and touched the middle of your chest, “Your 'eart.”

Yes, he had a good point, but love is just another useless emotion especially when he would eventually find out you were a girl, and your eyes showed your continuing hesitance, “But-”

He cut you off, “No, no questions and you cannot speak until I am finished showing what love iz. Understand princess?” You slowly nodded, “Bon! Let us continue elsewhere.” Francis flashed you a smile and pulled you up from the fountain’s edge where you both sat, taking you back into the garden. 

When you entered the garden, you noticed how Francis firmly still held your hand, but you thought nothing of it. 

“Tell me [Name], what iz your favorite flower?” He asked, looking around at the various flowers. 

All you could think was Do I have permission to speak? You just assumed yes because he asked the question, not you, “Uh, my favorite flower would have to be [Favorite flower].”

“Excellent choice, are zhere any in zhe garden?” He asked. 

With a nod, you started leading him deeper into the garden where the flowers sat. Of course the garden would have your favorite flowers. Your father made sure the landscaper at least put a few in there somewhere, but the landscaper went above and beyond than you and your father expected. It was one of the scarce handful of things he has done solely for your own pleasure.

A smile played at your lips as you approached the special place that held your flowers. It was a pure white gazebo towards the edge of the garden, and there were flower boxes hanging off the edge of the gazebo that held [fav. flowers]. Whenever your father always insisted of calling this [Name]’s gazebo, because it was built just for you. Sometimes he could be a loving father.

“Zhis is beautiful [Name]!” Francis beamed, now dragging you along into the gazebo. But he quickly returned to his serious state and sat down with you on one of the benches, “So [Flowers] are your favorite." 

You smiled at him and nodded. 

He smiled back and turned to the flower box that held the flowers, "You would say flowers are fragile, oui?” You nodded, “Yes, and love iz fragile thing too.” He carefully picked one of the from the flower box and handed it to you. 

The gesture was sweet, you took the flower and sniffed the amazing fragrance, “Thank you.”

Francis nodded and continued, “Like zhe petals of a flower, love iz delicate. Love iz sweet and beautiful, just like a flower.” When you looked up from the flower, your eyes immediately were sucked into his vivid blue eyes. 

A blush slowly sunk into your cheeks as you continued to stare back at him, finding it incredibly hard to look away, and the wold stopped spinning. A strange feeling started fluttering in your chest, and as if he understood what was going on with your body chemistry, Francis smiled. It wasn’t one of his loud grins, it was a sweet, small smile, only for you to see. It scared you. 

And he began to talk again, “Until zhis morning, I resented marrying you.” His statement startled you, but he went on to explain, “I detested zhe idea of an arranged marriage. I wanted to control who I would love for zhe rest of my life, I wanted to pick who I would have the joy of waking up every morning and see, I wanted to control who would bare my children.” His voice rose a little, but it softened, “On the ride in the carriage this morning, all my father would talk about was your beauty and 'ow polite you were, and let’s not forget 'ow 'e went on and on about your many talents.” You blushed bashfully at this, making him chuckle, “I 'ear you’re quite intelligent, and when you don’t think anyone’s listening, you 'ave a witty tongue,” You blush was fierce now.

The only one who knew you were skilled with words was your tutor Arthur, “Don’t worry, I find zhat a wonderful trait in a woman.” You relaxed a little, “As my father bragged about you, I still was upset about zhe whole arrangement,” You were about to protest and say that if he really wanted, he could call off the arrangement, but he started talking again before you could, “But when you and your mother walked into zhe zhrone room, my world stopped. I could tell zhat you didn’t notice me at first, but zhat didn’t matter to me. I was truly enchanted by you. You were indeed as beautiful as everyone 'ad told me.” He smiled and took both of your hands in his, the flower was set in your lap, “And I knew zhat I loved you, and I knew I experienced love at first sight. Because when you walked into my life like zhat, nothing and nobody else mattered.” He kissed your knuckles, making that same fluttering feeling arise again, “So when you said zhat you didn’t believe in love, it crushed me." 

Francis stood, taking you with him, still holding your hands, he got down on one knee, "Zhere is no need for me to propose to you since we are getting married in zhree weeks, but I promise you zhis; If you let me, I want to show you what love iz all about. I want you to fall in love with me, but I don’t want it to me forced. It will take time, but I 'ope it won’t take too long. Will you allow me to win you 'eart?” You blushed heavily at his words. Nobody besides your mother has ever been this considerate of you. It warmed you through to the core. 

“I would be honored my prince.” You smiled brightly, egging on a smile of his own. 

He hopped up from his place on the ground and wrapped his strong arms around your smaller frame, enveloping you in his warmth. You wasted no time in returning his hug. 

You knew that he said he was there to help you fall in love with him, but you knew you already did. And now, you were scared. 

\-- 

The wedding was to be held in the chapel where your father was crowned king when he turned twenty-five, just after his father's death. You were just born at the time. 

A week before the wedding, Francis, along with his family, arrived to stay in the castle for the wedding. You had to be on guard the entire time. 

Thankfully no one ever intruded on your private chambers. The week was pretty uneventful for the most part, the only time that came close to something going wrong was when you were up late and ran to the kitchens for a snack and a glass of water, you almost ran into Francis along the way. You hid inside a chest for a full ten minutes until you were sure he passed. Even though you had started wearing women's night gowns to bed, you knew if a lamp caught you at the right angle, you would see you didn't have a pair of bosoms under the nightie. 

It was the day before the wedding when you really started feeling everything, all the lies weighing heavily on you. 

Francis was so sweet to you, treating you like a princess as cliche and redundant as it sounded. You knew you loved him, maybe not yet in love with him, but you were so close. The only thing that was stopping you was yourself. 

And that evening, you broke. 

"Francis?" You whispered, drawing the blond from the book he was reading to where you stood in the doorway of the library. 

He smiled at you the instant his eyes landed on your form, "Yes?" He stood, closing the book to meet you at the door, "Did you need something?" 

"I-I was wondering if we could talk," You glanced around the library and spotted a maid in the corner dusting a few of the shelves, "In private." 

"Of course, where would you like to talk?" Francis wrapped your arm around his and led you from the library. 

With a moment's thought, "How about the gazebo? The lights in the garden should still be on for a few hours." You said, looking out one of the windows in the hall showing the setting sun. 

"That sounds lovely," The prince quickly led you both out to the gardens, "Should I be worried about zhis talk? Or are you just feeling nervous for tomorrow?" 

You smiled, taking in a deep breath as you two stepped out of the castle, "I am nervous, and I suppose you could say that is why I wished to speak with you." 

You waited until you were both seated in the gazebo before you let your smile drop and start talking again, "I wanted to speak with you because I find myself falling so hard and so fast for you, Francis," The blond beamed at your words, but you stopped him from speaking, "But because of the fact, I just can't seem to let myself love you the way you claim to love me because of walls holding me back." 

Francis fished out a blue handkerchief to wipe away the tears you didn't even know started to fall. 

"What I am about to tell you is quite serious, and I would completely and wholly understand if you wish to break off our marriage," You were starting to worry the male, "And I wouldn't blame you for doing so." 

"What iz it [Name]?" He asked softly, holding one of your hands and brushing his thumb over the top of it in order to try to soothe you. 

You glanced at your hands, smiling a little before you looked up to meet his eyes, "I-I'm not who you think I am, I'm not a princess," You took a deep breath, "I'm the crown prince. My father was ashamed of me and the fact I wasn't strong or a warrior, and because of that, no body really knew of me. And when he found out about you, he formed the lie that I was a girl in order to seal our kingdoms together," You smiled sadly, and looked away, not wanting to see the disgust in his eyes, "My father had it all planned out, every last detail, and I am sorry for the fact. Like I said before, I would not blame you for leaving at all." 

There was a long pause of silence from Francis, and of course you thought of the worse. 

He was going to leave, he was going to hit you and proclaim it to his family that you were a disgusting man with homosexual feelings for him. You knew you were deserve it all for lying to him, but it still hurt, because you did fall in love with him. 

But then, he started laughing. 

It was far from the mocking laugh you had expected, it was a laugh of relief. 

"Wh-Why are you laughing?" You asked, furiously wiping your cheeks with the handkerchief Francis was just using earlier. 

Francis cupped your face in his hands. His touch was so soft and hesitant, "I'm laughing because I couldn't be any more relieved zhat you're a boy." 

Your eyes widened at his response, "But why? You said that you wanted children, and-and I can't bear you children..." 

"I do want children, but I am not opposed to adopting a child with you, not at all," He lightly brushed his thumbs over your cheeks, "I've always wanted kids, but I also knew I had more attraction towards people of my own sex than women. I would 'ave loved you the same if you were a woman, but since you are not, it's amazing that you are who you are." 

You blushed at his words, shocked and relieved yourself that he was alright with the new information coming to light, "Really? You're fine with this? Even with the fact I will probably have to wear dresses for the rest of my life?" 

Francis chuckled again, pressing a chaste kiss to your forehead, "I am more zhan fine with zhis, and you don't 'ave to wear dresses for your whole life, unless you want to," Francis smiled at your look of confusion, "You must not know much about my kingdom, but, we are much more tolerant of same sex couples than one would think. Though, my father would have preferred you to be a woman, but we can deal with zhat after we are married." 

Finally, after it all really sunk in, you smiled. You smiled brighter than you have in a long time. 

Francis leaned his forehead against yours, matching your wide smile with one of his own, "I know it is not tradition, but, may I kiss you?" 

You didn't answer him with words, you simply leaned forward until your lips connected with his. 

Your parents probably would have been upset that you shared your first kiss before your wedding, but at the moment, you couldn't care less. 

His lips molded perfectly to yours and moved in sync. The feeling of his lips coaxing yours to life was exhilarating and set fire to every nerve in your body. You knew by confessing to him, you finally let yourself fall completely in love with him. 

It felt as if he made you whole. 

"I love you." You whispered when you two finally separated. 

"I know," Francis replied, pecking your lips one last time before pulling you to your feet along with him, "I love you too. Now, let's get some rest, we're getting married tomorrow."

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter @ren_writes


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